Chapter 1
My three years studying in Daroland were the most unforgettable part of my five-year academic life.
After I moved abroad, I heard Yannis Bennett kept telling everyone I was his true love.
He even went so far as to find a girl who looked a lot like me to be my stand-in.
To make me regret leaving, he had someone send me photos of them being all lovey-dovey.
At a welcome party after I got back, he pulled half of that girl's clothes, showing off the hickeys on her neck.
Seeing the humiliated expression on her face, I took off my coat and wrapped it around her.
"Girl, you need to love yourself. A scumbag like him doesn't deserve you," I said.
*****
After finishing a paper, I stretched.
Just then, my phone buzzed.
I opened it and saw a photo of Yannis and a girl.
He hugged her tight, her face buried in his chest. They looked like the perfect couple.
I rolled my eyes and sent back an emoji that pretty much summed it all up.
[Was this Yannis's idea again?] I texted.
The reply came fast: [Yeah. He paid me a fat stack for it.]
[So you'd pollute my eyes for pocket change?] I shot back.
I had no idea what was wrong with Yannis. Ever since I left for Daroland, he'd suddenly turned into some lovesick fool, claiming I was his one and only.
I swore, there was nothing between us.
We were barely childhood friends.
But honestly, the person texting me right now was also one.
Rich people circles were small. We all grew up together.
Yannis and I had never dated, and he'd never even confessed to me.
Besides, I only went abroad, not to another galaxy. Were plane tickets that expensive?
The night before I left, Yannis showed up at my place soaking wet from the rain.
He looked hurt. "You're really leaving?"
I was totally confused, not sure what he was getting at.
I nodded. "Yeah, it's all set."
His gaze turned sharp. "Fine. Don't you regret it."
Then he turned and stormed off.
Seriously? Was going to school a crime now?
The next day, I boarded my flight to Daroland.
Yannis was nowhere to be seen among the friends who came to see me off.
I heard he'd gotten sick in the rain but refused to go to the hospital.
Whatever, not my problem.
To me, he was just a nobody.
*****
Six months after I moved abroad, a friend told me Yannis had a new girlfriend.
It was Lily Quinn, an orphan from a foster home.
She kind of looked like me.
I couldn't care less.
I was not Yannis's mom. Why told me about his dating life?
But everyone else seemed sure there was something between Yannis and me.
The gossip mongers constantly sent me photos and videos of the two.
In Yannis's version, I was the heartbreaker who left him and also the first love he could never forget.
I posted three times in a row, making it clear: [I have NOTHING to do with Yannis. Never have. Never will.]
But one couldn't wake someone who was pretending to sleep.
After I posted those updates, my friend sent me a pic of Yannis drowning his sorrows in booze late at night.
Lily stood beside him, looking lost and teary-eyed.
The photo was shot perfectly, with a hazy, dreamy vibe thanks to the lighting.
What a tragic, romantic scene.
Too bad I was stuck in the middle of it.
My friend was angry for me. [I don't get Yannis at all. Lily is just some girl from nowhere. She could never compare to you. Honestly, she should be grateful she gets to hang onto Yannis because she looks a bit like you.]
I texted back: [Cut the 'from nowhere' stuff. None of us is that far from regular folks if we go back a few generations. And Yannis is the one being messed up. Lily didn't do anything wrong.]
Society was way too soft on men. A guy cheated? People said he was charming. A woman cheated? She was ashamed.
Of course, I was not for extreme feminism. I was for equality.
If a woman got shamed for cheating, a man should too, no excuses.
Yannis ran around saying he couldn't forget me while dating Lily.
That was truly shameless.
It didn't just gross me out; it hurt Lily.
My friend apologized in a panic, but I didn't feel like talking about it anymore. I dropped the conversation.